Somehow, Christmas sneaks up on me every year. I have these visions in my head of perfect evenings snuggled around the fire with my family, doing sweet little yuletide activities…but reality is a lot more frenzied than the peaceful scenes of my imagination. There are gifts to gather, wrap, deliver, programs and parties to attend, work, church, bills to pay, dinner to make, dishes to do, music lessons and practice, homework, house entropy to stay ahead of…augh! Still, I love this holiday season, and have been making efforts to slide some meaningful traditions into the craziness of it all.

It may sound funny, but I’ve struggled with Advent activities in the past. I tried paper rings one year…and lost count somewhere in there (did I mention the days are busy?). The cute little cut-and-pasted Santa, where you glue one cotton ball to his beard each day: too much for me, I mean really– I’m expected to hunt down a cotton ball and glue every night?! Our fabulous Kindergarten teachers send the kids home with a Hershey Kiss version, but there are two problems with this: 1-not enough for every kid in the house! and 2-all chocolate is consumed within 30 minutes of arriving home–it’s an unspoken rule around here. I found a really fun advent idea I wanted to do with my cubby cabinet (it just happens to possess 24 compartments and would be awesome!), but that would require me to find, decorate, and fill 24 containers with some sort of advent treat or activity (in advance!). Maybe next year.

That said, the kids like to have some perspective on how far away the big day is, and I wanted to incorporate more Christmas Spirit into our routine, so I printed up a simple December calendar to keep in the basket of Christmas books parked under our tree and assigned a day to each child. As we gather for our nightly reading and family prayer at bedtime, the designated person chooses which Christmas book we’ll read. So far, it’s gone off without a hitch. If we have a late/busy night and miss our routine, we just read two stories the next evening. I love it!

How do you fit your holiday traditions into the whirlwind that is December?

I bought this satin jacquard a long while ago to make a luxe baby blanket for Miss M. Surprise! It never became a blanket. Miss J has been requesting a “china dress” out of it for quite some time, so I decided to give it a go for Easter this year.

I didn’t have enough fabric to make two full dresses, so Miss M’s outfit became a two-piece look, and I really like how it came together. I wanted to use ivory English net for her tutu, but alas, no stores in my region carry English net: the sales ladies there looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for it and promptly directed me to the nylon tulle selection. Fortunately for me, I found a non-English-net alternative in the Christmas fabrics section: a sheer fabric with a gold mesh pattern on it. Made for a cute (if not quite as versatile as planned) frilly skirt!

I came across this picture tonight of a project I did for last Valentine’s day, and thought I’d throw it out there…it’s a versatile and easy little craft.

You’ll want to round up:
-small wood or paper-mache letters in the word combo you want
-2 colors of regular-old acrylic craft paint
-bottle of crackle medium (found near to the acrylic craft paint in any craft aisle)
-old rag
-sand paper
-sealer spray
-magnet sheet
-glue gun
-ribbon bits
-sealer

1-Slap some paint on the letters–whatever you want to use as the base coat…I used red here. Let it dry a little.
2-Mix 1 part water, 1 part paint (I used pink), 1 part crackle medium (a little goes a long way here…think teaspoons if you’re just doing one set of these), and slap it on top of the red paint. Let it dry for just a minute or so, then use an old rag to wipe it off (in one direction) till it looks as weathered as you want it to. If you’re not liking it, you can water it down, wipe it off and start over. (I found this technique on Sandi Henderson’s blog…LOVE her.)
3-Sand the edges, tops, wherever you want to make it look a little more worn
4-Hit the letters with a bit of sealer spray to set the look, let dry.
5-Tie bits of ribbon & trims around the letters wherever you please.
6-Cut strips off the magnet sheet to fit the back of the letters, hot glue them on.
7-Stick these babies wherever you like and SMILE–you accomplished something today!

Aaahhh. It feels so good to have the big day over. I love the season and the trimmings…but I am a bit relieved to have the Christmas pressure gone. I hope you all had as lovely and snowy a holiday as we did…well, maybe not as snowy. A belated Merry Christmas to you!

Wow, where did November go? I’m not sure where I’ve been, just busy being busy, I guess! I’m ready to get back to business though, lots to do! Yesterday I wanted to do a Thanksgiving activity with the kids, and thought these ideas were nice, so I printed up some cute tags (used images from this digi-kit) and we talked about gratitude and what we’re each thankful for, then strung them up on a ribbon. Fast, simple, easy…and so nice to bring our attention back to what is really good in our family. Here’s the low-down on what we’re grateful for at our house this year:

-Miss M is grateful for Miss M
-Mr. M is grateful for his family
-Miss J is grateful for horses and her family
-Mommy is grateful for our home and our family
-Daddy is grateful for his “beautiful, non-ornery wife” (awww…eye-roll)

Okay, so we’re not awfully creative, but we are truly blessed.

I realize this tutorial is a bit late for Halloween, but I got in a crafty mood yesterday morning when I was feeling all full of energy and thinking I could pull a quick little project off in nothin’ flat. So I thought I’d share the process with y’all and see what you think. I started out with these inexpensive pre-lit jack-o-lanterns from good old Walmart. I think they’re cute and friendly, but the orange, it’s way too bright for my taste. They need some white-washin’!

I learned this technique from Sandi’s blog: mix 1 part paint and 1 part crackle medium with 1 part water. Brush on, allow to dry just a bit, then rub off with a dry cloth. I followed that up with a dab of watered-down stain to age the look a little bit.

And there you have it: my version of a white-washed punkin’ head.

I found a link to this tassle making tutorial on The Shabby Nest last week, and knew I had to try making one of these! In an effort to avoid putting away all the stuff strewn about my house yesterday, I cleared off a bit of countertop, plugged in my glue gun and, voila! Not perfect, but fun nonetheless…gonna have to try it again!

I found these sweet patriotic sisters at a local craft fair a few years ago, and couldn’t resist bringing them home with me. I love primitive softies, and the flag motif of these raggedies is very clever, don’t you think? I wish I knew who crafted them…but there was a pattern listed on the tag still attached in back, and I am in love with pretty much everything on that designer’s site.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend!

Despite gloomy weather, I’m enjoying a nice quiet holiday weekend with my family, remembering loved ones gone before and feeling gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy. I wish you all the same!